Two Northwest Regional Police officers fatally shoot a man who pulled out a gun from his shorts

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The Lancaster County District Attorney's Office has determined that a Northwest Regional police officer was justified in shooting an armed man during a confrontation earlier this month.

Andrew Ward, 39, of Elizabethtown, died in the shooting that happened outside the Northwest Regional police station in Elizabethtown on Nov. 3.

Here is the sequence of events, according to the district attorney's office:

* Police first encountered Ward around 10 p.m. on Nov. 2 when he was arrested for driving under the influence. His blood alcohol content was 0.229 at the time. * Ward resisted arrest and had to be taken to the ground. His sunglasses were damaged.

* Ward was processed and released to his spouse around 11 p.m.

* Around 1:30 a.m. the next morning, Ward arrived at the police station. He used a phone outside to contact county 911 to say he was at the station and wanted to retrieve a missing part of his sunglasses.

* An officer (Officer #1) and a civilian ride-long left the station to respond to another call. As Officer #1 drove to the front of the building, they saw the same car that Ward's spouse had used to pick him up after he was released for the DUI. Officer #1 drove toward the parked car and noticed Ward in the parking lot.

* Officer #1 got out of the police vehicle and spoke to Ward, who was visibly agitated because his sunglasses were missing a side arm piece. Officer #1 told Ward that they had returned the broken arm piece along with his sunglasses and hat. Ward refused to accept this information and repeatedly demanded he be given the missing piece to his sunglasses. Officer #1 asked why Ward drove back to the station, and Ward indicated it was to retrieve the missing piece to his sunglasses.

* Officer #1 warned Ward he could be arrested for DUI again and attempted to de-escalate the situation for more than eight minutes. During the encounter, Ward displayed visible signs of intoxication, including stumbling and impaired speech.

* A second officer (Officer #2) arrived as backup, and Ward began walking backward and away from both officers. Officer #1 informed Ward that he was under arrest. Ward refused to comply with Officer #1's commands to turn around. Both officers pulled out Tasers, and Officer #1 again told Ward he was under arrest and to get on the ground. In response, Ward repeatedly asked whether the officer "wants to [expletive] do this?"

* Officer #1 attempted to deploy the Taser at Ward, but the device malfunctioned. As Officer #1 attempted to reset the Taser and deploy it again, Ward lifted his sweatshirt with his left hand, revealing a handgun in his front waistband. Officer #1 saw Ward reach for the weapon and dropped the Taser to retrieve their duty firearm while announcing, "Gun!"

* Ward pulled the handgun from his waistband and pointed it at both officers. Officer #1 fired eight rounds toward Ward, hitting him multiple times. Officer #2 deployed their Taser, which struck Ward in the left hand.

* Officer #1 began performing life-saving measures on Ward, who died at the scene.
An autopsy determined Ward was hit four to five times in his left leg, the left side of his torso, his left hip and his right wrist.

The civilian ride-along fled after seeing the gun and was not hurt.

Ward's gun was recovered on the ground between his left arm and torso. Investigators determined it was loaded.

Officers also seized an M4-style semi-automatic rifle with a collapsible stock loaded with a 30-round magazine, two additional loaded handguns, and more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition from the front passenger compartment of the vehicle Ward had driven to the station.

A review of the body camera footage from both officers showed Ward pulled the gun from his waistband and pointed it in the direction of both officers.

The district attorney's office said Ward's actions clearly placed everyone present in danger of death or serious bodily injury, so the officer was legally justified to use deadly force.